Chapter 27 Cameron
CAMERON
Emery’s pink braids are the last I see of her before she falls to her probable death. Something inside me fractures and a bellow filled with horror tears from my lungs, “Emery!” I try to chase after her, but the assholes who are trying to diminish my squad stop me.
The biggest one swings his combat knife at my eye and nicks it. I can’t feel the pain, but the vision on that side goes completely red and hot liquid drips down that side of my face.
These bastards have no idea what they’ve done.
I fist my KA-BAR and shove it up the big one’s jaw. He stills, brains probably scrambling for any last thoughts that I won’t fucking grant him. My knee comes up hard, and I nail the knife all the way into his skull until the butt of the handle is flush with his jaw.
He collapses like a troll. My eyes flash to the others. They blanch and try to flee. Bree and Damian finish off their cadet before stopping the two running from me.
I take a deep breath before turning and charge down the slope.
“Wait! Mori, it’s too steep!” Damian shouts.
I don’t fucking care, I think as my feet slide off the edge. I unsheathe my second knife from my ankle and use it to slow my descent and keep me upright as I literally fall down the mountainside.
My eyes scour the ground below, and fear drums into my blood as I see a splash of red and pink and black at the bottom of the snow-covered ravine. She’s not moving.
What do I do? What the fuck am I supposed to do? Panic races through my veins. The feeling is so rare that it makes me lose my grip on my knife. God, what this woman does to me. I bury my gloved hand into the dirt and rocks as an anchor and quickly navigate my way to the bottom.
The second my feet hit the bottom, I try to run to her body, collapsed on the ground like a fallen angel, but my legs tremble and give out, sending me to my knees.
My breaths stifle and sound ragged as I gnash my teeth into my lower lip.
I must’ve hurt them in the fall, or is it purely my anxiety that’s paralyzing me? I can’t tell.
All I see is her.
Her lying there motionless, bleeding into the earth.
Not her. Please, not her. Take anything from me, but not Em.
I brace myself up on my forearms and drag my body across the snow and gravel until I reach her side.
She’s curled up in the fetal position. Her frame is so small.
All I want to do is keep her safe and wrapped in my arms. I sit beside Emery and reach my hand over her to gently turn her, but my hand freezes an inch away before I touch her.
What if she’s dead?
My heart sharply aches as if a dagger has impaled me and I’m bleeding out. It’s the most pain I’ve felt in years. No. She’s fine. She’s okay.
“Emery,” I whisper, wincing at how hoarse my voice sounds against the silence cascading around us.
She doesn’t move, and her gear is too thick for me to tell if she’s breathing or not. I withdraw my hand and clasp it close to my chest. My hands have never trembled so much in my entire life.
“Emery,” I say louder. Still nothing.
The clouds darken and the world seems to fall into itself as my breaths grow labored. A dizzy spell falls over me as hysteria settles in, and my lips tingle with numbness. What is this feeling? I’ve never felt this way before. I’ve never been this distraught over anything.
I hate it.
Both of my hands fly to my head, and I tear off my helmet and mask, tossing them to my side. I can’t fucking breathe. I grip my hair and bite back tears. Shaking my head, I shout, “Get a fucking grip.” My fist connects to my head several times as I try to pound sense back into myself.
My jaw quivers as I force myself to scoot closer to her, wrapping my arms around her body and pulling her up against my chest. A small breath escapes her lips and curls in the freezing air.
The very second I hear that breath, every part of my soul shatters.
I let my head drop against hers gently and murmur, “I thought I fucking lost you.” My voice is fragile.
She lets out a light whimper and opens her eyes slowly. Chills run through my body, and I find myself both mesmerized and weak to the bone by her gaze alone. I couldn’t move right now if the world depended on it.
“Cameron?” Her voice is so quiet I almost don’t hear her.
“Who else?” I choke on the words, squeezing her tighter.
A small smile forms on her lips, a smudge of blood at the corner of her mouth. “I thought you hated me.”
I stare at her, bewildered for a moment that she can even attempt a joke at a time like this, then I laugh as relief floods through me. She chuckles too and grips her stomach while grimacing.
“Ow.”
Concern shifts in my chest. “Can you stand? Where does it hurt?” I let her stand in her own time. Her jaw flexes and alludes that she’s in pain. The thought of her hurting makes me feel sick. I want to take it all away from her.
She stands as straight as she can and tries taking a step forward. Her leg gives out, and before she can fall I catch her hips and offer a frail smile that I hope doesn’t show how worried I am.
“I’m okay,” Emery tries to convince me, but she’s the world’s worst liar. Her smile is always too meek when she lies.
I sit back on my haunches and take her in, cataloging all the injuries she’s sustained.
Her arm is hanging lower than she usually carries it, so her shoulder might be dislocated.
Her face is scraped up pretty bad, but her legs seem to have the most damage.
The calf that was stabbed is still bleeding profusely, but I’m relieved that it was the knife wound that bled so much and not her precious head from the fall.
My lips flatten as I quickly bring out the med kit and start wrapping her lower leg.
“Cam… Your eye and nose are bleeding.” Her soft voice brings me a thread of comfort. Only she would care about someone like me. Even after I was cruel to her. Why does she care about me? Why does she continue to be kind to me when I don’t deserve it?
I don’t want her affection, because it means she’ll be in danger constantly, but I’m not sure I could bear losing it now either.
I was worried that she was getting too close to my heart, but now I’m certain of it.